FORA Capital LLC Makes New Investment in The Madison Square Garden Company $MSGS

Key Points

• FORA Capital LLC has acquired a new stake in The Madison Square Garden Company, purchasing 1,396 shares valued at approximately $272,000.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds now own 68.94% of Madison Square Garden's stock, with several firms increasing their stakes significantly in the past quarter.
• Recent analyst reports show a range of price targets for MSGS, with JPMorgan reducing its target from $240 to $230, while Guggenheim maintains a "buy" rating with a target of $314.

FORA Capital LLC bought a new position in The Madison Square Garden Company (NYSE:MSGS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,396 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $272,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Madison Square Garden by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 222,090 shares of the company's stock worth $50,124,000 after purchasing an additional 9,979 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of Madison Square Garden by 242.1% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 992 shares of the company's stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Madison Square Garden by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 116,662 shares of the company's stock worth $26,328,000 after buying an additional 6,839 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Madison Square Garden by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 23,453 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,293,000 after buying an additional 3,228 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in Madison Square Garden during the fourth quarter valued at $273,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.94% of the company's stock.

Madison Square Garden Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of MSGS traded up $2.27 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $198.17. 37,541 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 156,106. The company has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -215.40 and a beta of 0.78. The Madison Square Garden Company has a 12-month low of $173.26 and a 12-month high of $237.99. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $201.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $196.49.

Madison Square Garden (NYSE:MSGS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.42) by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $203.96 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $151.00 million. Madison Square Garden had a negative return on equity of 1.76% and a negative net margin of 2.16%.The firm's revenue was down 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.06 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that The Madison Square Garden Company will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Madison Square Garden from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Madison Square Garden currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $253.60.

Madison Square Garden Profile

Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. operates as a professional sports company in the United States. The company owns and operates a portfolio of assets that consists of the New York Knickerbockers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League. Its other professional franchises include development league teams, the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League and the Westchester Knicks of the NBA G League.